Hector Nunez, chief operating officer of Imerman Angels, runs the Chicago Marathon in 2012 with his doctor after the physician promised to run with Nunez if he competed in the marathon. (Photo courtesy of Imerman Angels)

When Hector Nunez took his sick son to the doctor, he didn’t get complimented from the medical professional.

“He said, ‘You don’t look too good either,’” Nunez remembered.

Nunez, a successful hotel operator who split his time between Chicago and Mexico, was scheduled to do a half-Ironman (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run) in a couple of days. He opted for the Olympic distance (1,500-meter swim, 24.9-mile bike and 6.2-mile run) instead, but even that was a strain.

“I had no energy,” Nunez said about his race, “but I thought it was nothing more than the flu.”

He was recommended for more tests, including a CT scan, and it was determined that he had stage 4 head and neck cancer.

“I started to plan that I would die,” Nunez said. “I had buried my mother. I had buried the mother of my kids.”

But after the initial self-pity, Nunez vowed to fight and reached out to the Chicago-based Imerman Angels organization, which provides one-on-one cancer support.

Told he might lose the use of his tongue, not be able to swallow and have to use a food pouch for his nutrition, Nunez wanted to talk to someone who had been through that process.

“I called them and said, ‘I’ve got this and I doubt you will have anyone who has gone through this. It is not typical,’” he said.

Imerman Angels not only found a mentor who had gone through what Nunez was facing, but found him someone who was an athlete as well.

His mentor recommended swallowing exercises for him, which helped Nunez on his road to a full recovery and no outside food pouch.

The staff at Imerman Angels. (Kevin Beese/for Chronicle Media)

Nunez said his recovery was not an easy one.

“I had to heal from the inside out. It was bad. It was really bad,” he said. “It was really, really tough. I was 140 pounds and I lost 65 pounds. I was able to beat cancer, though.”

Nunez credits his mentor with helping him get through the toughest times.

The former hotelier is now the chief operating officer of Imerman Angels.

He said the connection that develops between mentors and cancer patients is incredible, primarily because the agency works so hard on paring the patient up with the right mentor.

Nunez said the volunteer mentors get a benefit from the connection as well.

“The person gets to give something back,” Nunez said. “… A lot of the cancer survivors and patients have so many phone conversations that they wind up traveling to meet each other face to face.”

The Chicago-based agency has 7,200 active mentors in 41 countries.

Cancer patients are not charged for the service. The agency’s funding comes through donations. More than half of Imerman’s $1 million annual budget is raised by individuals running the Chicago Marathon as a fund-raiser for the organization.

“We rely on individual giving,” Nunez said. “We rely on events (like the marathon) to raise money.”

There are limitations to what mentors can provide to patients, Nunez noted.

The Imerman Angels’ marathon team. Half of the cancer-care agency’s budget comes from runners who compete in the Chicago Marathon as a fund-raiser for the organization. (Photo courtesy of Imerman Angels)

“The mentors don’t give medical advice,” Nunez said. “Every mentor understands their role. They know they are to be listeners, not talkers. The callers normally do not need information on their condition. They need a buddy.”

The organization was founded by Jonny Imerman, who, while fighting cancer at age 26, just wanted to talk to someone his own age who was a cancer survivor. In 2003, Imerman founded the organization with the goal of introducing cancer patients to individuals the same age and gender, who had the same type of cancer and survived.

Nunez said the mentors are very protective of their patients.

“They are totally in the fight with them,” Nunez said. “They are doing mentoring and one-on-one counseling, giving support. It is a caring group. They are so prone to help.”

Information about Imerman Angels can be obtained by calling (877) 274-5529 or emailing info@imermanangels.org.

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